


Chase It Down

by icedsonder



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Leakira au, M/M, Mutual Pining, Omg i know it says major character death but dont let that scare you i swear theres a happy ending, Reincarnation, minor Hallura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 03:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icedsonder/pseuds/icedsonder
Summary: The helmet was taken off in one smooth pull and Leandro’s retort dried up on his tongue.Akira’s helmet hid….a lot.Like the shock of snow white hair that was half up, half curled around his shoulders as long, choppy bangs fell gently over his forehead. They almost obscured the annoyance that reflected in eyes the color of dusk from a rooftop and thick eyebrows furrowed, contorting an unfairly symmetrical face into a grimace that only further accentuated his handsome-scratch that-beautiful features. Leandro’s eyes, raked over the long tan scar that started from the bottom of Akira’s left cheek and ended just below his eye, an unnatural marker of some past struggle that shocked Leandro with such a powerful wave of familiarity, he could feel his body start to sway.Swords clanging in dim hallways, lips pressed to healing skin, fingers brushing hair back, ocean salt and wildfire, red and blue-The last thing saw before falling forward was Akira’s gorgeously angry expression quickly shift into one of concern as he ran forward to catch Leandro’s collapsing form.





	Chase It Down

**Author's Note:**

> Leakira + Angst + Reincarnation + my rambling writing style + my need to get out of this writing funk so I can finally finish Schrodinger's Space Dog = This
> 
> Title from Ghost of You by 5SOS (I hate them but the songs slaps okay)

Leandro Idania Alvarez grew up on weird dreams. 

 

They came to him without warning, but were always similar in nature, as if part of some cohesive narrative he had yet to string together. When his eyes shut, he never knew if that night would be the night he would once again see stars streaking past windows like condensation, or muted colors dancing, burning, enveloping him in fog, or feel the weight of heavy armor pressed against the strong beat of his chest. He never knew if his unconscious state would invite the weight of arms slung over his shoulders or sing to him the sound of a faraway voice he couldn't quite hear but somehow still knew rasped his name. 

 

He never knew if his weird dreams would ever let him reach the boy constant within them. The one whose dark head reminded him dizzyingly of the black matter of space, and whose face he was never able to make out because the morning would revive him before his hand could turn his faceless companion around. 

 

Nevertheless, despite their impermanence, they were as part of his life as breathing. They felt...familiar. He would sometimes even turn to thoughts of them for comfort or solace when nothing else in his life made sense. 

 

Which is why, as Leandro raced through crumbling city streets in a country whose native tongue was warfare, he did just that. 

 

“Fuck!” he yelped as the heat of a stray laser beam nearly scalded the tips of his ear. He lept over a particularly damaged pothole, brown boots darkening in the puddle he landed in on the other side. With one hand, he struggled to fasten a cloth satchel to his belt while simultaneously fumbling to unhook his gun from his thigh holster with the other. 

 

Another shot rang out but missed him by a significant margin. Leandro thanked the big man above for the dense forest of buildings and debris that provided an excellent cover for his agile form while proving difficult for the sentries hot on his trail. Grinning in satisfaction as his weapon came free in his hand, the lanky boy quickly pulled his goggles from where they were perched atop his head and whipped his head behind him, the long range eyewear autofocusing on the six sentries bunglingly making their way towards him. With a whip like extension of his arm, Leandro shot back, his near impeccable aim managing to take down three of his pursuers mid stride. 

 

He let out a wild laugh as he turned back around and dodged the shots fired by the remaining squadron. Up ahead, was an overturned car he quickly decided would allow him some leverage to take down his remaining adversaries. Leandro refastened his weapon and began the short climb up the usurped vehicle hoping that he’d be able to turn around and fire before the sentries could reload. 

Reaching the top, the stood to his full height and surveyed the broken landscape around him. 

 

‘Damn,’ he thought, ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.’

 

His eyes flicked over to where the sentries were advancing, tall humanoid androids whose sole purpose existed in destroying all of Leandro’s fun. And also, perhaps, upholding the law, but the first was more pressing. 

 

Leandro reached for his gun, a homemade, scaled down ion cannon he built from scraps he found throughout the city. Her name was Blue and she was his pride and joy. His fingers fastened around her base as he peered through his goggles to take aim. 

 

He blinked. He could’ve sworn that there were still three on his tail-

 

Leandro saw white and a flash of pain seared through his right arm. He dropped Blue and turned his head to find that the missing sentry had come at him from an angle while he’d been climbing and was now quickly advancing. 

 

He turned and jumped from atop the car, the landing exacerbating the waves of pain rolling up his right side. Gritting his teeth, he sprinted forward, ducking as shots rang eerily close to his head. 

 

Being injured before breakfast was really not a part of his plan for the day. 

 

Leandro put in an extra burst of speed to duck into a lowlight alleyway before the sentry could see. He pressed himself against the brick wall, clenching his eyes in pain and breathing as slowly and quietly as possible. The sentry zoomed past, its metal footsteps clanging against the concrete with no reserve of stealth or subtlety. He let out a  breath and peeked his curly head out, before allowing his body to follow. The sentry was a little ways off but had stopped running, now more or less stalking the grounds searchingly. 

 

He mapped a quick escape route to his left and slowly edged towards the scraps of debris that would allow him some cover. Keeping his eyes trained on the sentry in the distance, Leandro slowly inched leftward, gripping his right arm tightly as beads of sweat rolled down his neck. Taking his eyes off his pursuer, he turned towards the maze of metal---and walked smack into a column of loose debris that clattered to the ground so obnoxiously he almost wondered if it was on purpose. 

 

Before he could curse the ancestors for his rotten luck that day, Leandro found himself ducking yet more searing shots, pushing him once again to run speedily away. Unfortunately this time, he had to navigate the labyrinth of scrap metal as well as account for his slowly waning strength as the pain shooting through his arm prompted spots to dance along the corners of his vision. He offhandedly noted the faint sound of an engine rumbling drowned out by sounds of the sentry running him down, but chalked it up to his overactive imagination. 

 

‘Well,’ he thought with as much derisive optimism as he could muster, ‘This can’t get any worse.’

 

He turned the corner and found himself at a dead end. 

 

“Are you kidding me?” he gasped out in frustration. 

 

Leandro’s eyes scanned the wall of metal for a hold he could possibly use to launch his lithe frame up and climb but the pain from his arm reminded him that climbing out was not an option he had available at this moment in time. With his free arm, he wrenched a long pipe that had been jutting out of the ground, swinging it in adrenaline soaked anticipation for an attack he wasn’t sure he’d win. 

 

‘Wow, I’m really going to die for stealing spare parts and almond cookies,’ he thought shaking his head. As the metallic footsteps neared, the rumble from before also grew, informing him that the sound was indeed not of his mind’s own creation. 

 

His grip tightened as both sounds began to escalate, drawing closer and closer until-

 

A sharp tear of metal followed by a heavy thud a few seconds later. The rumbling was very clearly an engine of some sort and seemed to be coming from just around the corner. Leandro hesitantly skirted the sides of the metal wall and peered out to see who his savior (or replacement executioner) could be. 

 

The sentry was lying face down mere inches from where he stood, the hilt of a glowing knife protruding from its head. An engine revved and Leandro glanced up to find himself gazing upon someone perched atop a compact red motorcycle. The other person was clad in all black, save for a slightly cropped, deep maroon moto jacket. Their face and head were hidden under a glossy black helmet turned towards him while their gloved hand waved at Leandro frantically, beckoning him forward. 

 

Leandro dropped the metal pipe and ran to where the mystery rider stood, now scooted forward and patting the back of his ride’s seat. 

 

“Hop on,” a muffled voice came from behind the opaque visor. 

 

Leandro blinked, raising an eyebrow. “Um...look...thanks for the help, but uh..I don’t know you and I’d rather not potentially be kidnapped so I think I’ll just walk-”

 

The motorist grabbed Leandro’s free wrist and pulled him forward. “We don’t have much time before it detonates,” the voice rasped out,  “So unless you want to be melded into the metal around you, I suggest you shut up and trust me.”

 

Leandro narrowed his eyes. “Until what detonates? Because last time I checked, that sentry had a knife sticking out of his head, which for the record, is so 24th century, like honestly how do you expect to defend yourself-”

 

His companion groaned. “Oh my god, the knife is going to explode, okay? And like, soon, so can you please just get on before I have to manhandle you?” At Leandro’s shocked expression the person continued, “And don’t test me, because I will.”

 

Leandro stalked forward and planted himself behind the motorist, grumbling to himself all the while. 

 

“Who do you think you are anyway, I had it under control,” he grouched at the back of his companion’s head. 

 

“Name’s Akira,” Akira said kicking his foot up and swerving the motorcycle around, “And you might want to hold on Mr. I-Had-It-Under-Control, I drive fast.”

 

“My name is Leandro you heathe-” Leandro finished with a yelp as Akira shot the bike forward, accelerating with a near breakneck speed forcing Leandro to fling his arms around the other boy’s (firm) midsection, and hold on for dear life despite his right arm’s protests. 

 

True to his word, near seconds after they’d cleared enough distance, an explosion filled the air with heat and the sound of collapsing debris. Akira was prepared though. He expertly maneuvered the bike as chunks of metal flew from the bomb site, weaving through loose debris until they made it back out to the open road. Once free from the metal maze, he revved the engine and sped so fast that despite his protective eyewear, Leandro buried his face in the back of his companions neck in refuge. 

 

The two drove in silence for a while, Leandro unable to say or ask anything because he could barely lift his head without catching flies and the rumble of the motorcycle’s engine too loud for conversation regardless. They passed the city landscape fairly quickly, and slowly made their way to a more desolate and rural area that Leandro himself had never been to. Akira slowed considerably as they passed houses with overgrown weeds, tendrils of curling vegetation peeking out of windows and doors as if to say hello. Broken street lights flickered in the early morning, winking on and off unsurely as the two drove through coiling smoke from cracks in the asphalt. 

 

Akira turned into a backstreet that he drove on for a few minutes before then turning into the driveway in front of a dilapidated warehouse. Leandro lifted his head, which felt heavier now that the adrenaline had started to wear off. He unwrapped his arms from Akira’s waist, but hissed in pain as his right arm had to reacquaint itself with movement after having been forced still for a time. At the sound, Akira turned his still helmet clad head toward the boy behind him. 

 

“You alright?” his low voice floated out. 

 

Leandro didn’t answer and instead awkwardly maneuvered himself off the bike. He could feel his knees shake with effort, and the step he took nearly would’ve destabilized him if Akira’s arm hadn’t shot out and held him in place. 

 

Leandro flinched away unsteadily, the spots from before now enveloping his periphery. “Look,” he glared at Akira who was reaching a hand out as if unsure if Leandro would collapse or not, “Thanks for the ride and save, I guess, but I got it from here.”

 

Akira swung his leg over his seat and stood to his full height, which Leandro could see with some smug satisfaction, was an inch or two shorter than him. “Come on man, you’re hurt, let me at least patch you up-” he started forward which Leandro responded to by taking another two wobbly steps back. 

 

“I’m perfectly capable of patching myself up,” Leandro, his stubborn suredness contradicting the waves of pain rolling up his side. 

 

Akira looked up at the sky exasperatedly. Or at least what Leandro assumed was exasperation as he couldn’t really see his face to tell for sure. “Dude, you’re shaking. Stop pretending you don’t need my help and let me help you.”

 

“Listen up Ghost Rider,” Akira cocked his head confusedly to the side as Leandro continued in irritation, “I’m not a feeble elderly who can’t handle themselves, alright? I’ve been through much worse and made it out fine, so I don’t appreciate your pity or whatever it is you’re trying to prove by insisting that you need to fix me.”

 

Akira was undoing the clasp on the underside of his helmet. “You’re ridiculous, I’m literally helping you because I want to and no other reason-”

 

Leandro rolled his eyes, “Sure.”

 

“-But you’re being so unbelievably stubborn I’m starting to rethink my offer,” he placed both hands on either side of the helmet as he finished his thought, “So maybe I should just let you wander through the city with an injured arm because God forbid anyone try and help make sure you don’t collapse!”

 

The helmet was taken off in one smooth pull and Leandro’s retort dried up on his tongue. 

 

Akira’s helmet hid….a lot. 

 

Like the shock of snow white hair that was half up, half curled around his shoulders as long, choppy bangs fell gently over his forehead. They almost obscured the annoyance that reflected in eyes the color of dusk from a rooftop and thick eyebrows furrowed, contorting an unfairly symmetrical face into a grimace that only further accentuated his handsome-scratch that- _ beautiful _ features. Leandro’s eyes, raked over the long tan scar that started from the bottom of Akira’s left cheek and ended just below his eye, an unnatural marker of some past struggle that shocked Leandro with such a powerful wave of familiarity, he could feel his body start to sway. 

 

Swords clanging in dim hallways, lips pressed to healing skin, fingers brushing hair back, ocean salt and wildfire, red and blue-

 

The last thing saw before falling forward was Akira’s gorgeously angry expression quickly shift into one of concern as he ran forward to catch Leandro’s collapsing form. 

 

//

 

When Leandro came to, the first thing he saw was a droopy looking fan, slowly rotating in the morning sunlight. 

 

He seemed to be on some lonely mattress pressed against the wall, and pushed himself up with a grunt of pain and looked around. He was in the warehouse, as the pull down door was open to the outside, Akira’s bike glinting just outside the entrance. There wasn’t much inside; a workshop table full of tools (and knives?), a rack of black clothes, a worn punching bag suspended by the ceiling rafters, a fridge in the far corner that seemed to be the source of an ambient whirring noise, and a desk and chair with a framed photo by the frameless bed. 

 

Reaching out, Leandro brought the photo closer to find a picture of a brown, handsome man mid laugh, arm wrapped around the waist of another unfairly good looking man who was looking up at what had to be a young Akira sitting atop his shoulders. Akira’s white hair was a dead giveaway but his carefree expression as he lay his small cheek against the head of the man, who Leandro could see sported a long scar across the bridge of his nose, was one that looked quite different from that of the irritation he’d directed at Leandro earlier. He pressed his fingertips to the surface of the frame, trying to understand the itch of familiarity that seemed to grow more insistent the longer he stared at Akira and the unnamed man his younger self seemed completely at home with. 

 

“You’re up.”

 

Leandro glanced up quickly as Akira walked in from outside the warehouse. He’d shed his jacket to reveal a soft black tee whose short sleeves were rolled just the slightest, accentuating strong upper arms that made Leandro’s throat clench. 

 

Akira approached, eyes falling on the photograph still clutched in Leandro’s lap. 

 

He smiled just slightly, “That’s my brother, Takashi, and his husband, Arjun.” He sat on the edge of the bed, and Leandro followed his movements as he gingerly took the photo in his hands. “This was at some family barbeque years and years ago.”

 

“You-” Leandro began as Akira’s gaze landed on him, “-Simultaneously look like him and don’t look like him..”

 

Akira snorted. “Gee, I wonder what gave that away.”

 

Leandro resisted the urge to smile. “Alright, no need for sarcasm.” 

 

“I know what you mean though,” he said looking back at the photo, “Takashi isn’t my brother by blood. I was adopted into his family as a kid.” He smiled graciously at the still. “It was good.”

 

“And  _ your _ parents?” Leandro floated curiously. 

 

Akira paused for a moment and then looked back to him. “Take off your shirt.”

 

The speed at which Leandro’s face flushed was record breaking. “ExcUSE ME??”

 

Akira remained calm save for the tiniest smirk dancing across his lips. “You’re still injured, and I’m trying to treat your wound so get your mind out of the gutter.”

 

“I wasn-I didn’t-You can’t just say something like that out of the blue!”

 

Leandro sputtered. 

 

Snickering, Akira placed the photo back on the desk, before crouching beside the bed. “Look,” he said gaze unwaveringly boring into Leandro’s, “I’ll tell you more about my riveting backstory, if you let me sterilize and and bandage up your wound.”

 

Leandro huffed. “Fine….but only because I’m curious.”

 

Akira raised an eyebrow. “I think nosy is the word you wanted.”

 

“Shut up, mullet, and get your surgical tools.” Leandro retorted without malice.

 

For an imperceptible moment, a flash of something flitted across Akira’s eyes-almost like recognition-before it disappeared. He reached into his desk to pull out a yellowing plastic box as Leandro shrugged his jacket off. 

 

“Man,” he said fingering the torn sleeve, “This was my favorite jacket.”

 

“I have sewing shit, we can fix it up,” Akira replied easily.

 

“You’re just prepared for everything, aren’t you?” Leandro mumbled as he pulled his shirt over his head, gritting his teeth in pain as the fabric brushed over his wound. “Alright, doctor, I’m all yours.”

 

Akira’s face remained annoyingly neutral, but the faint pink that now colored his cheeks as his dark eyes took in Leandro’s shirtless form was telling enough. 

 

Leandro waggled his brows. “Don’t let my beauty distract you now, babe. You still have to tell me your tragic backstory.”

 

The spell broke as Akira rolled his eyes and scooted forward to pull Leandro’s right arm into his lap. “It’s not tragic, asshole. I’m not a tortured fictional protagonist.” 

 

Leandro chuckled and then hissed as Akira began treating the burn. “God, do I want to look?”

 

“It’s gross, but you’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

 

Leandro let his eyes wander to his upper arm. It was angry red, glistening and wet but not as large as what he had thought it would be. Akira’s now gloveless hands were delicately applying a gel-like salve that brought tears to Leandro’s eyes with each painful application. 

 

“Hey,” Akira’s firm voice pulled Leandro’s eyes towards him, “Just look at me, it’s worse if you stare at it.”

 

Leandro nodded weakly and let himself stare at the other boy, now refocused on his task. This close, he could make out a small spatter of  sun kissed freckles adorning the bridge of Akira’s nose and cheeks. His pale hair fell forward as he leaned close to treat Leandro, bottom lip pulled in concentration. 

 

Akira was unearthly hot and Leandro was unsure of what to do with that frank realization.

 

“So my parents,” Akira continued, interrupting Leandro’s train of thought, “Died in a car accident when I was about 3. I moved around in foster care for a year before the Shiroganes took me in.”

 

“I’m sorry man,” Leandro managed out. 

 

“Thanks,” Akira replied looking up for moment to smile at him, “I miss them sometimes, but Takashi and his family took really good care of me, so it wasn’t too terrible.”

 

He leaned over behind him to grab the gauze roll from the first aid box. Unrolling it to the length he wanted, Akira ripped the section off with his teeth.

 

‘Hot,’ Leandro’s mind unhelpfully supplied.

 

“That’s unsanitary,” he said instead. 

 

“Well I’m not a doctor and this isn’t a hospital so I’m not liable,” Akira said smirking as he began winding the gauze around Leandro’s wound. 

 

Leandro winced at the pressure from the bandage,but continued his probe.“What about your brother, where is he now? And why are you here? And also how did you find me out there in the first place?”

 

“Jesus, one at a time,” Akira huffed. He tied the two ends of the gauze expertly before looking back to Leandro. “First, tell me if you can move your arm and if it hurts.”

 

Leandro lifted his arm slowly, anticipating pain and felt….nothing. He squeezed his fist, rotated his arm, and swung it excitedly back and forth, nearly hitting Akira in the process.

 

“Hey, watch it,” Akira said laughing. 

 

“Dude, holy shit, you’re a miracle worker,” Leandro gasped in wonder, “How am I not crying tears of pain right now, what did you do?”

 

Akira grabbed Leandro’s still hovering arm and brought it back down in his lap. “Not me, just the gauze. It’s infused with nanotech that helps the body’s natural antibodies and platelets accelerate the healing process like tenfold. You’ll still scar, but healing time is cut down significantly. My friend Katia can probably explain it better though, she’s the one who designed it.”

 

“Tell her she’s made a fan and potential suitor because this is coolest thing ever.”

 

“She’s super gay, but sure I’ll pass it on,” Akira replied grinning.

 

“Well damn,” Leandro chuckled. With sudden returned strength, he hit Akira’s arm with excitement. “Okay, continue answering my questions now.”

 

Akira rubbed his arm, scowling. “I thought you just wanted me to talk so I could distract you.”

 

“Yeah, well now I’m interested for real,” Leandro leaned back on his arms, so grateful no sharpness of pain was waiting to greet him as he did so, “So humor me.”

 

Akira sighed, but brought his leg up so that he could face Leandro fully. “Fine, but I can’t tell you everything so don’t pry. What you get is what you get.”

 

Leandro raised an eyebrow but didn’t press. “Proceed.”

 

Akira explained that Takashi and Arjun were both pilots who were currently stationed near Japan. Ever since the druids started their invasion however, the two have been having a hard time getting back to Akira. They risked communicating via radio transmission from time to time, but essentially were now working on someway to re-enter the compromised US borders. 

 

Akira also told him that, like Leandro, he’d come to the US for school. Not knowing that two years in, he’d have to drop out because alien magic users decided this century would be the perfect time to invade and conquer. 

 

“What were you studying?” Leandro interrupted. 

 

“Astrophysics and math,” he replied, “You?”

 

“Aeronautical engineering and astrophysics,” Leandro grinned, “I guess we’re both nerds.”

 

Akira smiled back. “I guess so.”

 

“This still doesn’t explain how you saved me in time or the fact that you did so with an explosive knife,” Leandro said narrowing his eyes. “What are you, some secret vigilante?”

 

Akira pursed his lips and averted his eyes, looking torn. “I don’t know if I can tell you that.”

 

“C’mon man, we’ve been bonding,” Leandro pressed. He placed a hand on Akira’s forearm assuredly, “Look, I know it’s more risky to trust people than not right now, but the fact that my arm was nearly taken off by a sentry today should be enough indication that I am definitely not on their side.”

 

Akira looked back at him, eyebrows still furrowed. “It’s not that I don’t trust you Leandro...it’s...the fact that I do. Like completely. I’ve only known you for what, a couple of hours? But I’ve told you more about me than anyone has ever gotten in one sitting and that's just...weird.” 

 

Leandro’s eyes widened. “Oh. Um, well, is that...necessarily a bad thing?”

 

Akira ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Yes, it is! I just-I just can’t afford to be wrong about you, and my gut is telling me trust you and I do and I don’t know why-”

 

“Hey,” Leandro squeezed his hand where it still lay on the other boy’s arm. “I...actually feel the same.”

 

Akira looked at him curiously.

 

“What about all the annoying nonsense about not wanting my help before?”

 

“If I really didn’t trust you, I would’ve been long gone by now. But-” he took a breath, “I don’t know, I trust you, too. Maybe it’s because you saved my life and I’m out of it or something, but I don’t think that’s it.”

 

Leandro levelled Akira with a sincere gaze. “I’m a strong believer in fate and things happening for a reason-” he smiled as he watch a corner of Akira’s mouth quirk up, “-as corny as that sounds. And I think it applies here. We obviously feel the same about each other, so let’s just...go with it.”

 

Akira smirked. “Was this you confessing your undying love for me?”

 

Leandro winked back, earning him the return of the pink flush. “In due time, babe.”

 

Akira shook his head with a smile and focused intently on Leandro’s hand  _ still  _ resting on his arm. 

 

“Okay,” he said softly, looking back up, “I’ll tell you.” He narrowed his eyes, “But if you betray me, I’ll kill you.”

 

“Now babe, you know threats on my life get me hot and bothered.”

 

Akira grabbed a pillow at the foot of the bed and hit Leandro over the head.

 

“Oi! I’m an injured man! This is abuse of power-” 

 

The rest of sentence was muffled by the next pillow assault to which he finally responded with his own offense, reveling in the way Akira laughed so hard, he started to snort.

 

‘Dios help me,’ he thought. 

  
  


 

* * *

 

 

 

Akira hated recon with every fiber of his being. 

 

It was tedious to plan, required days of prep, and worst of all, he wasn’t even allowed to stab anything or he would “compromise the mission.” They were, in his humble opinion, the worst kinds of missions to be assigned.

 

But if there was one thing that made it even remotely worth it, beside the acquisition of valuable information that would aid them in the eventual takedown of an evil imperialist governorship, it was the lanky sharpshooter at his back, keeping step with him almost effortlessly. 

 

Leandro had become an irremovable part of his life since Akira told him about his involvement in the Altea Coalition, a network of rebel groups working to overthrow Earth’s sudden invaders. Akira and his best friend Katia, were recruited not long after the invasion began the year prior. Alma, the coalition’s Altean leader, needed Akira for his ruthless edge and quick thinking and Katia for her innovation and technological savvy. It was through Alma that Akira learned of his brother’s involvement in the international chapters, moving from group to group with Arjun to maintain communication amongst the various factions.

 

Alma was intimidatingly intelligent, resilient and a leader the the entire coalition looked to for hope and inspiration. Akira and Katia joined the organization with high spirits, meeting many like minded individuals bent on the destruction of the druid forces, including Alma’s boyfriend, Haych, a biochemical engineer with a knack for infiltration and a refreshing sense of humor. The four became fast friends, and made up the core of the US based operations. Thus, Akira was rightly worried about introducing Leandro into their tight knit group, and of the threat he could pose as an outsider that wasn’t properly vetted by the Alma and her team.

 

But it seemed that Leandro was the exception.

 

The team took to him easily, with Haych ecstatic he finally had someone to riff his outlandish comedic antics with and Katia happy to be letting yet another engineer join the ranks and bounce ideas off of (Akira could also sense that she enjoyed having an almost older brother figure seeing as her own was operating at an overseas faction). Even Alma was impressed with Leandro’s ability to create, his natural affinity for long range fighting and his amiable nature. 

 

“I’ll admit, I was planning on kicking your ass when I found out about you recruiting without seeing me first,” Alma had told him one day as the two of them watched Leandro show Haych and Katia the mechanics of his newly improved ion ray gun. Leandro was using his hands to talk, as Akira had learned with time, was something integral in how the other boy communicated, as he held up the his weapon to take aim and shoot a target across the room with almost impeccable aim. Haych and Katia clapped his back in enthusiasm and pored over the weapon with interest. “But he’s a damn good shot, and if you trust him,” Alma looked at Akira with resolve, “Then so do I.”

 

“Thanks Alma,” Akira replied with relief. 

 

Her eyes flashed suddenly mischievous, “And besides, I’m glad you’ve finally shown interest in something other than your explosives.”

 

Akira felt his cheeks flush. “Uh, it’s not like that.”

 

Alma raised a delicate eyebrow. “Like what? I didn’t say anything.” She turned back to look back out at the team. “Ifyouhaveacrushonthehotsharpshootersaywhat.”

 

“Wha-Dude!” 

 

Alma laughed soundly as Akira sputtered in his own defense, cheeks blazing. Leandro took that moment to look up from what he was doing to smile brilliantly at them. He waved back curtly while trying to suppress the urge to strangle his snickering leader and friend. 

 

When Leandro turned back, Alma nudged him knowingly. “I’m not blind, doofus.”

 

Neither was Akira. In fact, because of his Galra heritage, a fact Leandro found annoyingly  interesting when Akira told him, his eyesight and other senses were exceptionally enhanced. Which meant that no matter what time of day it was, or how far away he stood, Akira was always painfully aware of how attractive Leandro Alvarez was. 

 

Always autofocusing on the moles scattered along Leandro’s neck, forearms and back. Tucking away the way his curly hair felt against Akira’s neck after long missions when city lights washed over two tired boys riding through broken streets past midnight. Hyperaware of how his long fingers would flutter along Akira’s arm, on the small of his back, card through his hair, playfully poke him in the cheek. Akira could see every fleck of gold burning in Leandro’s right eye, molten brown in sunlight and just as sweet in the dark, while simultaneously able to pick out every swirl of green in his left, the color of the ocean at sunset and just as turbulent. 

 

Though sometimes, Akira would blink and see two blue eyes instead of one. This would happen often. Instances in which a split second mirage would elicit a gut reaction, some indistinguishable feeling that reminded him of beach sand and space dust at once. But they’d disappear as soon as he’d take a second look. 

 

He tried not to dwell on them too much. 

 

Akira felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to meet Leandro’s wide eyes through his goggles. 

 

“What?”

 

“Do you think my nose is super pointy?”

 

Akira scrunched his brows together. “Leo, what are you talking about?”

 

Leandro tapped his watch and a small holo projection of a wanted poster with his face flickered into view. 

 

“This is supposed to be a photo rendering,” he said pouting, “But like my nose looks like a fucking fencing sword, dude, what the hell? It’s not that pointy, right?”

 

“I think you mean sabre, one,” Akira whispered back, “And, two,  is now really the time?”

 

Leandro sniffed theatrically. “God, you think so too, don't you? I’m hideous for all time.”

 

“Leo, you know you’re not ugly, now hush, or we’ll be compromised,” Akira hissed turning back to map their way into the building. 

 

“Aw Kiki, you think I’m handsome-”

 

“I told you not to call me that-”

 

“Red, Blue, focus.” Alma’s irritated voice came in through their earpieces. “We’re running short on time, and the guards are switching shifts soon, so I need the both of you alert.”

 

“Sorry,” they both replied sheepishly into the comms. 

 

Leandro crouched next to Akira and adjusted his newly upgraded eyewear to see where the two of them would be breaking in. 

 

Akira smirked. “Having fun with Haych’s upgrades?”

 

“Dude, yes,” Leandro replied with a smile, “I can track heat sigs, electrical wiring in the building and even triangulate where you can throw your daggers, that man is a beautiful genius and I’m marrying him one day.”

 

“Ahem,” Alma chimed in their ears. 

 

“Pfft, please Princess, I planned on stealing him away from you the moment I laid eyes on him.”

 

“Those are fighting words, Blue.”

 

“Um, guys,” Akira whispered amusedly, “Mission, remember?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I already figured where you need to hit the sentries while staking my claim on Haych,” Leandro replied looking to him, “In about a minute, the sentries will trade with the guards. There’s a brief thirty second time frame that they adjust their night mode systems and that’s when you hit. They’ll be out quickly and quietly and we can hop on down there afterward.”

 

“I’ll have Katia dismantle camera footage once you two make it inside,” Alma continued, “But we’ll have to shut off comms in case of interference, so Blue make sure to look at your watch for further instructions.”

 

“Got it, boss.”

 

“Good,” she said, “Red, it’s time.” 

 

Akira nodded, and the two began scooting forward to the edge of the rooftop as much as they could without being seen by the two guards now slowly making their way inside as the sentries positioned themselves by the access code protected sliding doors. 

 

Leandro leaned close as the guards input the code. “For all powerful magical beings from outer space, you’d think they’d be above using six digit passcodes to protect the homes of their high ranking officials,” he mused aloud.

 

“Yeah, well, thank god they don’t,” Akira replied, tensing as his window of time slowly ticked down. 

 

As soon as the sliding doors shut, he sprung to action. Akira crossed his arms to unsheath his daggers, counted to five and then threw them with deadly force at the sentries below. The daggers embedded themselves in their heads, a contained burst of electricity short circuiting their mainframes and consequently crumpling them to the ground in two metal heaps.  

 

With a nod to Leandro, the two vaulted themselves over the side of their rooftop to the next, tucking and rolling to a practiced finish in front of the glass doors they’d soon pass through. Akira walked over to the sentry husks, and wrenched his daggers to re-sheath them on his sides. He made his way over to where Leandro was now punching in the passcode.

 

“You’re welcome by the way,” Leandro said offhandedly as he pressed the last digit.

 

The doors hissed open and the two entered the building, shutting off their comms as Alma had instructed. Akira turned to him with confusion. “For what?”

 

Leandro looked to his watch, leading the both of them silently through the dimly lit hallway, as voices of the masses downstairs floated up to where they were like echoes. “For making your daggers more practical for missions, duh.”

 

Akira felt his cheeks warm at the memory of driving home last week to find Leandro, shirtless, bent over the worktable. Akira had allowed himself a minute to ogle at the other boy’s lean, mile long torso, brown and decorated with moles like scattered stars, before he forced his eyes down and realized just what his friend was doing. 

 

“Leo what the hell!”

 

Leandro had jumped, before relaxing once he realized who it was yelling at him. “I can explain-”

 

“Yes, please tell my why you’re touching the one thing I told you never to touch, I’d really like to know,” Akira seethed as he gazed down at his precious daggers picked apart on the desk. 

 

“Consider this,” Leandro offered, leaning back with bright eyes and a screwdriver stuck endearingly behind his ear, “You, out in the field,  _ not _ completely giving your position away every time you use your knives.”

 

Akira, curiosity annoyingly piqued, and eyes drawn up once more by the view that was Leandro’s bare chest in all it’s glory, crossed his arms and levelled Leandro with an icy glare. “This better be good.”

 

Leandro had given him one of his blinding grins, which, after months of being at the receiving end of, still managed to knock the breath out of his lungs. 

 

“Trust me, it will be.” 

 

And with that, Akira had begrudgingly allowed Leandro to convince him that electrical daggers with the ability to short circuit and electrify were far more conducive to stealth than his current grenades.

 

Akira rolled his eyes at the back of his companion’s curly head. “I liked my exploding knives just fine.” 

 

“So did every sentry, druid, and whoever the fuck else who wanted to skewer your mulleted ass within a hundred mile radius.” Leandro retorted, “And I didn’t get rid of  _ all  _ your explosives you big baby, so just admit I’m a genius and that you love and cherish me.”

 

Akira was glad he was currently trailing behind him in the darkness if the warmth of his cheeks were any indication of his brain slightly short circuiting at his partner’s words. “Just tell me what the Princess sent,  _ genius _ , so we can  get the info and get out of here,” he huffed.

 

“Hmmph, I continue to be unappreciated in my time, and by my best friend no less,” Leandro grumbled, “She said that cameras have been taken care of, and that the guards will be switching shifts in front of the computer room, so, again, we have to get in and out during a tiny window of opportunity.”

 

“Got it.”

 

The two inched along the corridor, the darkness slowly giving way to the soft glow of lights up ahead. They crouched beside wall, watching as the guards in front of an unassuming door, checked their watches before leaving their post and heading down another hall. 

 

“Now,” Leandro whispered. 

 

Akira darted forward keeping his hands hovering above the sheaths on his sides while Leandro worked the door’s security measure.

 

He smirked at Akira when the lock pad flashed green. “And that’s a new record.”

 

“Just get your big head in there so we can finish the mission.”

 

“Again, zero appreciation for the art or the artist,” Leandro muttered as they entered the room.

Dim lights blinking from the computer systems washed the room in a eery purple glow as sounds of machinery whirring filled the quiet space. 

 

Once inside, Leandro shrugged his bag off his shoulder and began hooking up their tech for the information transfer. Akira messaged Alma that the data was being extracted and that they would be out soon. 

 

He started when he heard a whoosh of air before projectile clothing hit his face with muffled thud. 

 

“Change into your disguise civvies, while I set this up so we don’t waste time.” 

 

Akira pulled the fairly nice suit from off his head with a scowl, before walking a ways away and turning around. 

 

“Don’t look,” he muttered, feeling his cheeks warm as he pulled his pants off. 

 

“I mean it’s nothing I haven’t seen before, but whatever makes you comfortable, mi cielo,” Leandro replied, sugary sweet. 

 

Akira rolled his eyes as he fastened a button up, before carefully readjusting his knife holster on top, and then pulling over the dark blue suit jacket. He bent down to grab the fallen masquerade mask, black, decorated painly with some royal blue accents, and tied it around his head. He heard Leandro shuffling behind him and assumed the other boy was also getting changed as the data transfer finished up, so he stayed turned around, fidgeting with his sleeve because he truly didn’t trust himself to remain neutral during a Leandro Alvarez strip tease. 

 

“Okay I’m decent Kiki, you can head back from exile over there.” 

 

Akira huffed a petulant sigh as he walked back. “I was just being polite, you asshole.”

 

“Yeah well, again, it's not anything either of us haven’t seen before so…” Leandro’s voice trailed off as Akira stepped into his line of sight. The taller boy looked unfairly handsome, in his dark maroon suit and matching mask, but Akira watched curiously as Leandro’s mouth slowly fell open as wide eyes roved up his body. 

 

“You,” Leandro managed out, sounding a little forced, “You, um, look good man.”

 

Akira felt his cursed cheeks flush, and he swallowed thickly, noticing Leandro follow the movement before replying. “Uh, you do, too.”

 

The corner of Leandro’s mouth lifted in his signature smirk. “I think I may rock red a little better than you, no?”

 

Akira felt the need to snarkily reply fade completely as he answered truthfully. “Without a doubt.”

 

In the dim light, Akira watched with some satisfaction as Leandro’s cheeks darkened. 

 

The quiet beep sounding the end of the information transfer sliced through whatever had slowly built in the air between them and Leandro wrenched his gaze from Akira’s before quickly retracting his device and packing their things into his compact satchel. Akira messaged Alma assuring her that the data transfer had been successful and that they were on their way out now. 

 

Akira and Leandro left the room, reinstating the security protocol before starting down the hallway that would lead them to the main ballroom. 

 

“Okay the Princess, just messaged me,” Leandro said glancing at his watch, “Our guy is gonna be in a green tie, matching green mask, black tux and shoulder length white hair.”

 

Akira grumbled. “God that could be anyone nowadays…”

 

Leandro chuckled, “Babe, you can’t trademark your white hair; especially when you’re a hot, wanted criminal.” Akira glanced at Leandro as the other winked. “You’re an accidental trendsetter, what can you say?”

 

Akira was dwelling on the fact that Leandro found him hot-or did he just objectively state that he was hot?-when the sound of steady footsteps coming their way caught his attention.  

 

Leandro cursed under his breath as he grabbed Akira’s wrist and crowded him against the wall. 

 

“Leo, we’re disguised it’s fine-”

 

“I know, but it’s still fishy that two party guests would be up here,” Akira watched him say as the taller boy craned his neck to peer at where footsteps were coming from before looking to him, eyes stormy. “Do you trust me?”

 

Akira didn’t hesitate. “With my life.” 

 

“Okay, then try not to hate me too much for this,” Leandro breathed out before ducking his head to the corner of Akira’s jaw and pressing an open mouthed kiss there. 

 

Akira felt his entire body react; his hands clutched Leandro’s broad shoulders, pulling him closer as he heard a sharp gasp leave his own mouth, his head involuntarily tilting to give the other boy more access. 

 

Leandro continued to press, soft kisses down Akira’s neck while the shorter boy bit his lip, trying his hardest not to make any noise that would further exacerbate the situation.

 

‘This is just for the mission,’ he thought foggily to himself, ‘This is just for the mission, this is just for the mission-’

 

And then Leandro gently bit the opposite side of Akira’s jaw, and he couldn’t stop the low moan that had been building in his chest or his hands instinctively fisting in Leandro’s curly hair, tugging just enough for the other boy to groan against him. 

 

Akira could feel Leandro press even closer, hands bruising where they gripped Akira’s sides under his jacket, kisses somehow now more forceful, as if intent on leaving behind a trail. He didn’t care. Instead, Akira, tilted his head up to the ceiling, shutting his eyes, suddenly dizzy.

 

His legs felt like they would give out and he saw colors as Leandro worked on a particular spot, wracking waves of pleasure down Akira’s spine as he sighed.

 

“L-Lance-”

 

_ Wait. _

 

His eyes shot open.

 

“Oi! What are you two doing back here, this area is off limits to guests!” 

 

Leandro pulled away slowly, leaving Akira’s neck both hot and cold, and glanced over his shoulder at the guards. 

 

“Sorry,” he said with an easy grin as he turned to face them, grabbing Akira’s hand, “We got a little carried away. We’ll head back down.”

 

The guard stared for a moment longer, before grunting and motioning for them to get going. 

 

Leandro tugged his arm. “Let’s go babe.”

 

Akira met his eyes and saw twin seas, no sign of amber in the right. He felt his chest tighten with what could only be described as intense sorrow; for a moment, hearing distant sounds of conflict and shouts of rising panic amid the voices of the party guests, before blinking, the sounds fading away and Leandro’s two toned irises returning to view. 

 

He nodded, feeling light headed, and let himself get pulled away until the two were out of earshot.

 

Leandro let go of his hand and cleared his throat. “Sorry about that.”

 

Akira’s mind was still a little foggy, his voice far away as he replied. “It’s okay, Leo. It was for the mission.”

 

“Right, the mission,” Leandro’s voice was strained, and the two continued on in loaded silence.

 

All the while, as they covertly transferred the data to their contact (who’d annoyingly joked about Akira’s off white hair), returned to Altea’s headquarters, and debriefed the team, Akira found himself replaying a single moment again and again.

 

_ Lance. _

 

The name felt like it had always been sown into the tip of his tongue, always precariously balanced, about to fall into space. And now that it had, Akira felt a veil of unexplainable nostalgia follow him to bed, to training the next day, and to the meeting that would assign both himself and Leandro to Varadero, Cuba for a Coalition meeting. 

 

And everytime he looked at Leandro Alvarez, the veil would flutter, something stirring just beyond the opacity, before he had to tear his eyes away to keep his head from splitting in two. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Leandro was worried.

 

From the moment they had arrived in the tropical climate that was his home country, Akira had been acting oddly. 

 

When Leandro’s mother, whom Alma had supplied with a safe house in Varadero, had embraced them with the utmost warmth, Leandro noticed a flash of recognition on Akira’s face and the way he clung tightly to her when she wrapped him in her arms. 

 

Or even before that, Akira had appeared more distracted as of late. Leandro found that it was far too easy to disarm him during training, and noticed how often the snowy haired boy subconsciously frowned in his direction before apologizing for spacing out when Leandro called him on it. The worst part about this shift in behavior was the way in which he seemed to be avoiding Leandro; whether it was sitting far from him when he could, remaining generally unresponsive to Leandro’s quips or not even meeting the taller boy’s eyes when they spoke, as if afraid of what he’d see there. 

It frustrated Leandro to no end, especially because he assumed that this behavior came as a byproduct of the events of their last recon mission. 

 

That ruse had been based partly on impulse decision and partly on a culmination of dancing with the growing intensity of his feelings for the other boy. Leandro rationalized that he enjoyed it more than he should have because Akira looked phenomenal in royal blue, before realizing that Akira could wear a potato sack and still get Leandro’s blood pumping. He blushed everytime he thought about his breathlessness in that dark corner, the way Akira’s skin tasted on his lips or the way they pressed their bodies flush together. 

 

He thought of Akira’s tiny exclamation.

 

_ Lance. _

 

It  wasn’t until later that same night, when he thought about those stolen moments, that the clarity of that name made its way to the forefront of his mind. In any other situation, Leandro thinks he probably would have been miffed to find another name on the tongue of the object of his affection, but it wasn’t the case here. In fact, the name held the same familiarity his dreams did: like revelation he had yet to break down and understand. 

 

And the feeling was only amplified once they arrived in Varadero. 

 

Leandro and his family were not from this city, but there was a sense of comfort and home in all the moments Leandro walked the sandy sidewalks, and not just because this was his beloved Cuba. 

 

“Mama,” he said one day, his head in his mother’s lap as she carded through his curls, “Have we ever visited here before? Like, Varadero, I mean.”

 

“No nena,” she said looking down at him, raising an eyebrow, “Why do you ask?”   
  


He sighed. “I don’t know, I just-I just have the weirdest sense of deja vu...like I’ve definitely been here before.” He shook his head. “I don’t know, I probably sound crazy.”

 

His mother hummed. “No I don’t think you do. Maybe you have been here before, and you just...forgot.”

 

Leandro scrunched his brows together, peering up into his mother’s tanned face. “Okay now  _ you  _ sound crazy.”

 

She huffed and hit him lightly on the head as he let out a breathy laugh. 

 

“So Leo….” she began when he quieted. 

 

He smirked. “So Mama…”

 

“Akira is quite a handsome boy, no?”

 

Leandro groaned, slapping his hands over his face, cheeks flushing. “Ugh...”

 

“What?! I am making a simple and honest observation about my single son’s good looking friend, who also, I presume, happens to be single.”

 

“Oh my god, Mama,” Leandro groaned out, before looking back into his mother’s mischievous face.

 

“ ‘Oh my god, Mama’ me all you want Leo, but I see the way you look at him, like he’s the sunrise.”

 

Leandro felt his heart clench. “I’m that obvious, huh?”

 

“Painfully, nena,” she replied almost pitifully.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” he said with a grimace, “I don’t think he feels the same.”

 

His mother frowned. “Well have you asked him?”

 

“Well no but-”

 

“No buts.” She moved so that Leandro was forced to sit upright as his mother held him by his shoulders and bore her dark brown eyes into his. “Take him to the beach today and  _ talk. _ ”

 

Leandro opened his mouth, but his mother held up a hand. 

 

“I do not want to hear it, Leandro Alvarez, you will do as your mother says or else.”

 

“Mama, our meeting is in two days we really need to prepare-”

 

“What did I just say?”

 

Leandro huffed a labored sigh. “Fine, I’ll take him out.”

 

Her resulting smile was brilliant. “Good.”

 

He shook his head, smiling. “You’re truly relentless.”

 

She winked, clearly pleased. “Where did you think you got it from?”

 

And so that afternoon, Leandro found himself leading an initially reluctant Akira through cobbled city streets that grew sandier as they neared the coast. Akira had tied his hair up and was wearing one of Leandro’s spare tank tops, offering full view of his flushed neck and strong arms and rendering Leandro almost speechless. 

 

Almost.

 

“I don’t even remember that happening,” Akira said insistently, pulling Leandro from his briefly deviating thoughts. 

 

Leandro adjusted his snapback and rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, what part of me shooting a muffin out of Haych’s hand with my ion cannon thus toasting it without him having to put it in the oven doesn’t sound realistic to you?”

 

Akira’s eyes bugged out of his head hilariously. “Literally all of it??”

 

“Whatever, you’re just jealous because if you tried doing that with one of your death trap knives, you’d just blow up the entire facility.”

 

“But,” Akira’s lips twitched, “I’m sure the heat of the explosion would in the very least toast the muffin.”

 

Leandro bit his lip to keep his laughter at bay. “Yeah sure, crispy muffins that no one will eat because they’ll be dead, great plan.”

 

“Mmmm, crispy muffins.”

 

Leandro let out a bark of laughter, feeling light as Akira joined him. 

 

“You’re so weird, Kiki,” he said with as much fondness as he could muster as he glanced at the other boy.

 

“You’re one to talk,” Akira said smiling down at his feet. 

 

“Okay sure, but my weird is charming, and endearing and-”

 

“This what your mom tells you?”

 

Leandro gasped dramatically as Akira chuckled to himself. “That-that’s just straight up rude, wow, see if I’ll ever let my mom make you anymore of her pastellitos again.”

 

Akira’s eyes grew comically wide. “Oh my god wait no, I take it back-”

 

“Oh how the tables have tabled, no take backs Kiki,” Leandro sidestepped a thwack to his arm and ran forward, calling gleefully over his shoulder, “You’re gonna have to live a pastellito free existence!”

 

Akira sputtered for a moment before following suit, laughing all the while.

 

“Leo don’t take my only source of happiness away!"

 

Leandro laughed maniacally but didn’t respond, choosing only to speed up until his feet found themselves sinking into sandier ground. 

 

He slowed, letting the brine of the ocean fill his lungs as he stared out into the glittering expanse of water. 

 

This was it. His heart thrummed as he took in a deep breath, steadying his nerves before uttering the words that he’d known to be true for some time. 

 

_ ‘I love you, Akira.’ _ Leandro thought to himself, flushing.  _ ‘I love you and I know I love you like I know breathing. Involuntary and for as long as I can remember. I-’ _

 

A muffled groan behind him forced Leandro to whip around. 

 

Akira stood not too far from him, clutching the side of his head.

 

“Whoa,” Leandro rushed to his side worryingly, “Ki, what’s going on?”

 

“I-” Akira began, looking up at Leandro through  pained expression, “I don’t know, I just-”

 

Some invisible pain seemed to force Akira’s eyes shut as he let out a small shout and sank to the ground. 

 

Leandro felt his blood run cold. 

 

He knelt, hands fluttering over Akira’s body. “Akira, what’s going on, what can I do-”

 

“Leo, can’t you hear it?” Akira hissed through gritted teeth. “It’s so loud, make it-”

 

Akira shouted in pain and Leandro felt his chest cave in on itself, tears blurring the corners of his vision. 

 

“Please, Leo,” Akira whimpered curling his body inward, hands clamped over his ears, “Please make it stop.”

 

“I can’t hear anything, Akira, I’m sorry,” Leandro choked out brokenly. “Akira, come on, let me get you back home, we can try to figure it out there-” He placed a gentle hand on Akira’s back.

 

The other boy suddenly shot up and Leandro snatched his hand back.

 

“Ki?” he asked cautiously.

 

Akira’s face was vacant of the excruciating pain he seemed to have been experiencing prior. In fact, it was now eerily blank as he gazed ahead at the ocean before them. 

 

Leandro was unnerved. “Akira-”

 

Akira stood with ease and began walking forward with no indication that he was aware of Leandro’s increasingly confused state. 

 

“Akira!” 

 

The boy continued his straight path ahead, a steady trek towards the waves lapping the warm shore.

 

Leandro stood, but waited a second for his dizzy head to clear. He started forward, noting that Akira was close to the water and seemed to be making no motion of slowing down. 

 

“Akira, stop!” Leandro ran forward, but felt his legs had more trouble than usual treading the sand. A sudden and very pungent scent wafted close and it took every bit of self control Leandro had accumulated over 20 years of living to not throw up. 

 

‘What the hell is going on?’ Leandro thought foggily to himself as he watched Akira step into the water and not stop. 

 

Fear seized his chest. 

 

“Akira please, you can’t swim you stubborn idiot, you’ll drown!”

 

How long had Leandro been running? Akira had only a few seconds head start and yet Leandro felt that each step he took brought him no closer to reaching the snowy haired boy in front of him. 

 

This had to be a dream. 

 

The scent was stronger now, and Leandro could feel his throat burn with effort to not dry heave into the sand. Something was burning that shouldn’t have been. 

 

Akira was waist deep.

 

This was a nightmare. 

 

Leandro felt tears blur his vision.

 

“Akira!” His voice broke.

 

The other boy faltered for moment before pressing on.

 

Black spots danced in Leandro’s vision as he felt his feet finally reach the water.

 

Desperation clawed at his chest as he watched Akira wade deeper still and a shiver rolled through his body as he finally identified the scent overpowering the salty fragrance of the sea. 

 

Burning flesh. 

 

He felt himself swallow his rising panic and he cupped his hands and called out again.

 

“KEITH!”

 

Something snapped in his mind. A floodgate was breaking, but he paid it no mind as Akira finally stopped, water splashing his chest, whipping around, eyes wide. 

 

“Lance?”

 

The dam crumbled some more.

 

And Leandro watched with horror as Akira’s eyes rolled back and he sunk beneath the waves. 

 

//

 

Leandro groggily blinked his eyes and lifted his heavy head to the sound of silence. 

 

A soft sea breeze fluttered through an open window, stirring his mother’s lace curtains in the far side of the safehouse’s living room.

 

He turned his head to the sound of deep sigh and found himself staring at Akira’s unconscious form. His eyes raked over over the sleeping boy’s pale hair fanned out onto the couch pillows, curling slightly as it dried. His face was so peaceful, pale lashes casting spidery shadows under the moonlight, lips parted slightly as he lay still. Leandro felt his heart squeeze.

 

He thought of how desperate he looked as he burst into the house, carrying Akira’s semi-conscious and drenched body through the house and into the living room where his mother could work her magic. And after forcing him into a warm shower, and force feeding him dinner, Leandro sat on the ground as Akira tried to rationalize the day’s events, lying back on the living room couch. 

 

“You’re sure you don’t remember anything?” Leandro asked tentatively as he sank down onto the ground after spreading a throw blanket over Akira’s slightly trembling form. 

 

Akira furrowed his brows. “All I remember was chasing you and then...blank.” He huffed a frustrated sigh, before turning guilty eyes his way. “But I’m sorry I put you through that Leo, I can’t imagine how hard that was to see.”

 

“Hey now,” Leandro replied gently, taking Akira’s bare hand in his squeezing. “I’m just glad you’re okay, Ki. Don’t worry about me.”

 

“That’s like telling me to stop breathing,” Akira said softly, mouth quirking at the corner and forcing the air out of Leandro’s lungs.

 

He smiled warmly, before using his other hand to brush Akira’s messy bangs from his forehead. “Well you can make it up to me by getting some rest, okay? We’ll figure shit out in the morning.”

 

Akira’s eyes fluttered close at the contact, before opening slowly and leveling Leandro with a molten gaze. 

 

“Can you stay?”

 

Leandro, almost instinctively, raised their clasped hands to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to the pale hand in his. 

 

“I wasn’t planning on going anywhere,  cariño.”

 

He sleepily looked to where their hands lay now, on top of Akira’s rising and falling chest, with fingers intertwined and felt a slow smile creep onto his face before drifting off again. 

 

//

  
  


Leandro Idania Alvarez grew up on weird dreams.    
  


They came to him without warning, but were always similar in nature, as if part of some cohesive narrative he had yet to string together. When his eyes shut, he never knew if that night would be the night he would once again see stars streaking past windows like condensation, or muted colors dancing, burning, enveloping him in fog, or feel the weight of heavy armor pressed against the strong beat of his chest. He never knew if his unconscious state would invite the weight of arms slung over his shoulders or sing to him the sound of a faraway voice he couldn't quite hear but somehow still knew rasped his name. 

 

He never knew if his weird dreams would ever let him reach the boy constant within them. The one whose dark head reminded him dizzyingly of the black matter of space, and whose face he was never able to make out because the morning would revive him before his hand could turn his faceless companion around.

 

Except tonight was different.

 

Because tonight the figure stood in shallow ocean water, that seemed to glow with the power of something ancient and alive hidden in the depths. 

 

Because tonight as he neared his companion, his dream didn’t begin to blur with the tell tale signs of his waking. As he took cautious steps forward, he watched an invisible breeze ruffle the shoulder length, inky strands.

 

He stretched his arm out and clasped the armor clad shoulder, turning the other boy around.

 

Dark hair, a pink scar and those sunset eyes he’d gotten lost in so many lifetimes ago. 

 

The water below them began to churn.

 

His breath hitched as the raven haired boy stepped forward, pressing a gloved hand to Leandro’s cheek.

 

He smiled sweetly. 

 

“Hey Lance.”

 

//

  
Leandro jolted awake and found the couch in front of him empty. The blanket was thrown on the ground a few feet away and he could hear the crickets sing their hymns in the night hour through the wide open front door. 

 

He rushed outside, feeling not fear or even the desperation of before, but pure adrenaline coursing through his veins and forcing him into a sprint towards the beach he’d been to only a few hours before. 

 

Nearing the coast he could see a lone figure standing still in the shallows, staring down at the dark depths broken periodically by the pulsating flashes of bio luminescent plankton that had swum to the surface. 

 

Akira heard him near, and turned, tears streaking slowly down his face.

 

“Leandro-?” Akira whispered out, asking every question in just one word. 

 

Leandro felt his heart stutter as he waded through the water to the other boy. 

 

Akira’s hair glowed in the moonlight, dark eyes still unsure, the question hanging in the air.

 

So Leandro decided he’d answer it as he pressed his hands to either side of Akira’s face and forced the two flush together in a searing kiss. 

 

Leandro felt the fog in his clear and became immediately aware of the shouts of battle ringing through the landscape. 

 

Fighter planes streaked through the air, gunning missiles at the lions-green, yellow and black-maneuvering in the air. Some missed, getting absorbed into the beach’s sandy dunes and sending minor shockwaves through the ground. Bodies lay unmoving and scattered, while others pressed forward still, fighting and clawing and plowing through enemy combatants.

 

He paid them no mind. 

 

Instead, he ran, dropping his bayard and heaving through the pain radiating up his left arm to reach the fallen red lion just a ways away. 

 

When it had plummeted through the sky like a shooting star after it shoved the blue lion to the side to take the full brunt of one of the most powerful ion cannons in the galaxy, he could feel his heart drop out of his body. 

 

And then he saw red and lay waste to the ship and it’s entire squadron in a matter of minutes.

 

The head of the red lion lay slack jawed, eyes dimmed as a lone figure stumbled out, taking a few shaky steps before crumpling to the ground.

 

He pushed through the pain, to sprint forward, finally reaching the fallen soldier and pulling his bloodied torso into his lap. 

 

His mouth had the audacity to quirk up. 

 

“Hey Lance.”

 

Lance let the tears flow steadily down his face, unsure of when they’d started leaking or if they had just done so since the fall. 

 

“You fucking idiot,” he choked out, eyes raking over the burnt flesh exposed on Keith’s neck and chest, “You absolute moron, you goddamn martyr-”

 

“Hey,” Keith rasped out with effort, “Is that any way to talk to your fiancé?”

 

Lance let out a desperate sob and pressed his forehead against the fading boy below him.

 

“Keith, why?? We had a plan, love, just why-”

 

“I wasn’t thinking,” he replied, lifting a gloved hand  to hold Lance’s cheek, “I just saw it aimed at you while you weren’t even facing that way and I couldn’t think of anything else, I’m sorry.”

 

“Sorry’s not gonna cut it this time, Kogane,” Lance could see his tears slowly drip onto Keith’s bruised cheeks.

 

Keith opened his mouth to reply but was cut short at the sound of an ion gun humming just beyond Lance’s shoulder.

 

Keith turned wide eyes to Lance.

 

“Lance get out of here,” his voice a smidgen stronger than it had been moments prior. 

 

“Not without you,” Lance replied stubbornly.

 

Keith squirmed, grimacing through what had to be excruciating pain as he tried feebly to push Lance away.

 

“I can barely move and I’ll slow you down. Get your bayard and go, I mean it.”

 

Lance huffed a laugh. 

 

“I dropped it on my way here, babe,” he shut his eyes, calling out to his lion, who only replied with haunting silence, “And there’s no way in hell I’d ever leave you, so I don’t know why you even bothered with that line.”

 

“Lance,” at the sound of the tightness in Keith’s voice he opened his eyes and found the other boy blinking back tears as he stared desperately into his face, “Please go, we’re almost surrounded.” 

 

“Hey, Blue’s on her way okay?” he replied surely, despite the reality of her silence having dawned on him a moment prior. 

 

He wiped the uncharacteristic tears from Keith’s eyes, “Blue’s coming and we’re gonna be okay and we'll get you back into Atlas to fix you up so I can beat your ass for being a self sacrificing idiot-” Keith let out a manic giggle “-and then we’re gonna get married on my uncle’s ranch like we planned and adopt like 30 dogs and 10 kids and have a family full of love and rainbows and all that shit, okay  cariño ?”

 

“Okay,” Keith breathed out, eyes slowly roving over Lance’s face as if memorizing every detail. 

 

Lance leaned his head down to press a soft kiss against Keith's lips, feeling his tears mix with the red paladins as the two clung to each other somberly.

 

Lance pulled back and peered into Keith’s eyes as he heard the shouts of enemy forces drawing nearer.

 

Keith heard, too, and fixed Lance with a foggy stare. 

 

“Blue’s not coming, is she?”

 

Lance watched rivulets create clear tracks on Keith’s ashen face. 

 

“No,  cariño, she’s not,” he answered with a weary finality.

 

He could hear several guns loaded and aimed their way. He briefly mused that it would be a sweet victory for the Galra, knowing that they were able to take out the red and blue paladins in one go before getting decimated by the remaining paladins of Voltron. 

 

Keith let out a broken sob. 

 

“I’m so sorry, Lance-”

 

“No, babe, listen to me,” Lance held both sides of Keith’s face in his hands and forced them to lock eyes. 

 

“No matter what happens, I’ll find you again, okay?" He smiled softly, thumbing away the tears streaking down the other boy's face. "I promise, I’ll find you.”

 

Keith let out a shaky breath before pulling Lance down to meet his lips. 

 

His last sensation were (in this order): the softness of Keith’s mouth, an indescribable pain as multiple ion cannons shot him in the back and the head splitting roar of sentient mecha lion breaking free from captivity before shielding two lifeless bodies under the depths of a churning ocean.

 

Leandro gasped pulling back as he stared incredulously at the boy in front of him, flushed pink, tears running freely down his cheeks, and eyes still closed.

 

His eyelids slowly blinked open, like a newborn animal finally seeing the world around him for the first time. Upon fixing his gaze on Leandro, Akira's lips curled into a wide beam, and he reached his hands out to the other's face, thumbs wiping tears Leandro wasn’t even aware he shed. 

 

The water was glowing at their feet, churning with the force of something stirring below, ancient and alive. 

 

But Leandro only watched Akira smile that same sweet smile.

 

“You found me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this was gonna be a lot longer bc I wanted to make the ballroom mission thing more intricate, and then also have more scenes where the two of them kinda have weird flashbacks and deja vu in Varadero but aint nobody got time for that so this is it lol.
> 
> Also for clarity's sake, the things underwater are the red and blue lions that have been waiting for Lance and Keith to come back to Varadero and reopen their connection to each other so that they can pilot them again (which would then lead to them discovering the rest of the lions and saving the world w/ the team of course).
> 
> And yes, Leandro and Akira eventually get married on a farm years later, no they do not adopt that many dogs and kids.
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr @astroakira and leave comments/kudos if you liked this!


End file.
